Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Shares Sold by Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc.

Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 17.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,545 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 335 shares during the quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $403,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Amgen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $819,000. Keystone Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Amgen in the fourth quarter valued at $238,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Amgen by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,594,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $415,676,000 after purchasing an additional 19,053 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at $9,313,000. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp purchased a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth $1,216,000. 76.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Performance

AMGN opened at $297.78 on Friday. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.30 and a twelve month high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $160.07 billion, a PE ratio of 38.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $271.69 and its 200-day moving average is $303.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 168.35% and a net margin of 13.00%. On average, analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.38 per share. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $9.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Redburn Partners lowered their target price on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Amgen from $333.00 to $298.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Amgen from $344.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amgen has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total transaction of $483,802.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Amgen

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. The company's principal products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; XGEVA for skeletal-related events prevention; Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization; Nplate for the treatment of patients with immune thrombocytopenia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; EVENITY for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal for men and women; Vectibix to treat patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer; BLINCYTO for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia; TEPEZZA to treat thyroid eye disease; and KRYSTEXXA for the treatment of chronic refractory gout.